Proof-of-concept model of red blood cell with coarse-grained hemoglobin

Abstract

In modelling of individual red blood cells different bio-mechanical phenomena have to be taken into account. Besides the evident mechanical properties of the red blood cell membrane such as shear elasticity, viscosity ratio is sometimes omitted in the models. We present an approach for including the difference between the inner and the outer fluid of the cell into model. We analyze physical properties of protein hemoglobin that is responsible for higher viscosity of inner cytoplasm of the cell. To keep the computational complexity reasonable we build coarse-grained model of hemoglobin. We present initial proof-of-concept study using the validation test of cell’s behaviour in a shear flow.